How to know if I should Self-publish or sign to a label?

Hey everyone! So today, I’m going to share some insight as to whether or not you should sign to a label or self-publish.

Let’s talk about it.

So at one point

There comes a time in every musicians life that he has to decide if he needs to sign with a label or not. 

And to be quite frank with you, it would be ideal if you did sign to a label.

I mean like, a label has so much to offer that It’s almost foolish to think that you’re going to do it on your own. 

The problem is that nowadays, record labels drain the musician dry from all of their money and time.

and what happens is that it’s almost like indentured servitude that a musician is doing when he signs to a label. 

But I digress, there is a time and place for every musician to decide if he wants to sign or not to sign. 

Let’s talk about both.

Self-publish/indie 

This is my preferred method.

This is the method that I’m doing right now.

I’m actually selling my music by myself and I’ve gotten it on Spotify and Apple Music. 

And of course other music streaming services. 

And the reason why I decided to self-publish is because I actually wanted to get signed to a record label at first. 

What happens is that nowadays, record labels want to see that you can actually sell albums. 

And if you can sell albums, then it’s a good shot that you can sell with them. 

And I wanted to sign to a record label at first. 

But then I said to myself, “wait a minute, I’m promoting my music by myself and I’m selling it by myself, why do I need a record label?”

Because a record label is in charge of promoting your music. 

And they work don’t get me wrong. 

But I mean like, I could do the exact same thing on my own it would just take time. 

And plus, the pennys that the record labels pay the artists are just that, pennys. 

And I don’t want to be making awesome music just for someone else to benefit from it. 

It’s my music I want to enjoy the fruits of my labor. 

But anyways, that’s the reason why I am selling on my own, to get paid way more than what I would get paid with a record label. 

But the thing about a record label is that they offer power and the ability to get in the top music magazines that there are. 

The ability to get the best of the best is really appealing. 

Now let’s talk about a Record label

A record label

The record label has the resources that otherwise you might not have had. 

They have the best Mixing engineers, mastering Engineers, producers, artist to collaborate with, artists to do your art work, photographers, studios, marketing tools, you name it they got it. 

And the record label can also offer you something that can sometime seem out of reach to young artists, and that’s money. 

When you sign to a record label, they will have a bonus for you if you were to sign with them. 

And the record label gives you that bonus because they know that you are a starving artist seeking to get paid and pay off some of those bills that you have. 

The problem with that bonus is that you have to pay it back. 

You have to pay back absolutely all of that money to the record label before you see a paycheck. 

There are stories of artists who lived in apartments while they were signed to some of the biggest record labels out there because they didn’t want to take in some of the money for themselves. 

And actually it’s advised that you don’t spend any of the money that you have from the record label. 

And if you do spend the money, it’s to make your craft better. 

It’s to make your music better. 

So that way, you can sell massive amounts of music. 

It’s great with the resources but it’s often said that it’s a bad deal that musicians sign when they sign to a record label. 

So which should you do?

Well if you’re starting out, I would highly recommend self-publishing. 

If you want to get into a record label eventually, then it’s okay, because they are going to want to see that you can sell albums. 

So sell your albums by yourself and see how far you get, you’d be surprised as to how far you would get. 

If you’ve been a musician for a while, then it’s your choice as to if you want to sign to a record label or not. 

I wouldn’t sign if it was me personally. 

For me, the negative consequences outweigh the positive ones. 

So I wouldn’t sign but it’s your choice. 

At one point in every musicians life, it will be a choice to sign to a label or not. 

And you’re going to have to make that decision. 

Broadcast

I sure hope that I have been an inspiration and a hope to you all. Please remember to pray, read your bible, go to church, and love God above all else. Like, comment, share, subscribe, and I will see you all next time.

If you want to go to heaven, then believe in Jesus and you will go to heaven. (John 3:16)

Thank you all for listening in on this blog post. 

German Gonzalez, signing out!